ECG Prompts Ghanaians About New Tariff
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has prompted Ghanaians about the first quarterly tariff implementation of the year 2023.
The tariff will take effect from February 1, 2023.
The 29.96% increment in ECG tariff was communicated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) earlier in January after the review of tariffs.
The Company explained that an individual customer’s tariff increase will depend on his/her classification and consumption category.
“ECG has catalogued all unit consumption and the expected cost in “Reckoner” which clearly explains how the tariff is applied and billed”, a press statement from the Company ahead of the implementation date said.
The reckoner, it said, will be displayed in all District and Customer service centres across the country.
Electricity will be increased by 29.96% whereas water will be increased by 8.3% effective February 1, 2023.
According to the PURC, tariff review is determined by underlying factors such as inflation, cedi/US dollar exchange rate, generation mix and a weighted average cost of natural gas.
These factors have changed after the last review in August, the PURC stated in a press release.
In this review, the Commission said the projected weighted average Ghana Cedi/US Dollar exchange rate used was Ghs10.5421/USD; 42.63% inflation rate; and USD 6.0952 Average cost of gas.
“The quarterly Tariff Review Mechanism seeks to track and incorporate changes in key factors used in determining natural gas, electricity and water tariffs. The objective is to maintain the real value cost of supply of these utility services and ensure that utility companies do not under- or over- recover.
“Undercover has negative implications for the ability of the companies to supply service to consumers and has the potential of causing outages of electricity (DUMSOR) and water supply. Over recovery unnecessary overburdens consumers of electricity and water”, it explained.
The new tariffs were opposed by the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA).
The Executive Director for Agency, Nana Prempeh Okogyeabour Aduhene said his Agency was not consulted in the review and further decried the timing as wrong and the rate as high.
The ECG has assured that the implementation of the new tariff will be smooth.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
